Jordan

So after Greenbelt I had about a day turnaround before heading off to Jordan with highway projects. I've been back for quite some time now, but just not sat down to blog. I have a journal of my time that runs to pages, and really it is hard to put all these experiences into a few words here. Not only had I gone to explore this country, but to get to know people who lived there, share my faith and experience and learn from the faith of the people I meet. The time in Jordan began with a few days orientation in Wadi Rum, the desert to the south of Jordan, made famous by the exploits of te lawrence. This was an awesome experience, living out in the desert, getting to know the rest of the guys on the mission teams. There is something rather special about a desert, the sun beating down, the awesome colours of sand and sandstone jabel changing with the angle of the sun. And life. It is remarkable to see how life thrives in such a hostile environment, greenery clinging to trickles of water. The sandstone monoliths acting as sponges during the infrequent rains, the water slowly working it's way through and impeded by inpenetrable granite returning to the rock's edge as a spring. It makes the biblical analogies based in deserts really come to life. There is one thing knowing that water is essential for life, seeing it in person greatly adds to the meaning.

Taking these thoughts with me, I travelled, with the other guys on the same team as me, to Amman. Here, I was one of many to be struck down by some rather bad gut troubles, that rendered me unavailable for the first day working in school. Thanks to some antibiotics and other drugs I was soon on the way to recovery. We were teaching in two schools, a boys and a girls, taking the christian religious instruction lessons for 10-18yr olds. It proved quite tricky to adapt the lessons for the different age profiles, and interest. Using Jonah, we tried to look at reasons we run away from god, prayer and the underlying truth of the book of jonah, that god loves and has compassion for all people, even our enemies. A hard lesson for Jonah to see compassion shown to his enemy, compassion he did not wish to see exerted, though he knew it would come if forgiveness was sought.
It's difficult to know the worth of such work, taking lessons, that would take place whether we are there or not. In the evenings we had chance to get to know the local church young people and it was great to hear the leadership responsibilities these young people had taken on, leading sunday school and camps etc. It was fun visiting the local sights and making friends, and i hope our friendship and solidaritory was beneficial to a group of similarly aged people expressing a faith that is a minority in their country. I was encouraged at how passionate these people were about their faith and using their gifts to share their passions with children. It was also a pleasure to join them on their retreat as they sought teaching and reflection from the minister and encouragement in their leadership roles. Though I would dearly have loved some conversations around their experiential interpretation of the bible and how it might differ from someone who reads the bible remote from the geographical settings, and how indeed, expressing a faith in the minority effetcs them too. We learnt that they did not feel persecuted and in fact along with the population were quick to praise the king and the skill he uses in keeping the diverse peoples together. Jordan's population consits mainly of waves of refugees, the most recent being iraqi. The king ensure that the voices of the minorities remain in power, something that would never happen if all ruling powers were democratically elected.
On reflection I'm pleased to have again experienced life in the middle east and made new friends. I've learnt a lot and felt encouraged by the people i met. I just hope that it has been recipricated and my presence has helped the faith journey of at least someone i encountered. There are plenty of pictures on flickr which can be found in my highway project set
Bizarrly, we also nearly met tony blair who was also in amman. He was due to attend church on the sunday, but had been invited to see the king instead.

Debrief

today was the debrief meeting for highway projects and it was an unusual experience. The last time I was with a large group of this team was whilst out in Israel, and for some reason it felt weird to be around them agian. Seeing photos of the people we were working with made me realise how I miss them, and although at times it was a difficult mission, I really felt I was part of something larger, something that I couldn't grasp, but knew it was of worth. So the reminders today made me feel quite down, difficult to describe really. The worship was good, but it lacked something that we had whilst worshiping out in israel. In fact some of the worship and singing times we had out in Israel were superb, you could really sense the closeness of god's presence. Today there wasn't quite that connection, and maybe part of me was hoping that that would be there. That meeting up with some of my fellow missioners it would recreate that experience, that intimicy with god, that relationship with people, but no, it just felt vacant. So i left the day, not feeling refilled and excited and with fresh understanding of the mission, but really rather weary and despondant.

Jordan and spiders

Met up with helen yesterday on the way back from work. She has just returned from Jordan where she has been on mission with highway projects. It was good to hear her stories and to exchange our thoughts about mission and the middle east. You can read some of her initial thoughts on her blog here.

In other news I was almost attacked by a spider this morning. It is bin day and I had to go and put the bins out, for which I have to walk thru a gate and down a path at the side of the house. A spider had built a giant web spanning the gate at head height which I didn't see. So I inadvertantly walked into it, which gave me some alarm. When I turned round I saw a huge spider in mid air trying to repair the damage and blocking my route back with the bin. It took me quite some time to encourage it out of the way so that it wouldn't fall on me.

Displaced

So yesterday at church we had an own arrangement service and andrew had put together some interactive creative prayer ideas from our pray without ceasing awe service and i spoke a bit about my time in Israel/Palestine. helen and chris came along to hear my stories, which I appreciated, though i am immensely jealous that they will be going out with highway projects to Jordon in just over a month.

So I shared stories of working in Raineh, introducing the teenagers who were in my group, the facilitators who helped with translation. I talked of the camp partners, the local episcopal church, the arab association of human rights, the local council and highway projects. The games we played, the workshops on womens rights, living with disabilities (blindness in this case), how the media distorts stories, promoting non-violence. Our trip to see a mosque forced into disrepair by being surrounded by jewish settlers, the graffitti that spoke of death to arabs scrawled on it's walls. A trip to a water park where it's the norm for leaders of jewish parties to walk around in their swimsuit with automatic weapon strapped to their backs. Imagining what impression these images must make on arabs growing up in an environment where they are feared to an extent that protecting yourself with such weaponry is acceptable. Our trip to a mosque and a church in the village, promoting interfaith relations within the arab community, and of course sharing the sad news of being caught within a war zone. Our departure to a safer haven, whilst leaving our friends in a place of danger and uncertainty.

And as Hezbollah continue to rage a war born out of frustration of the way israel seems to treat it's indiginous arab neighbours, the response is of such disproportion it makes me almost sick to hear about it. A campaign that has killed countless civilians, hundreds of children and is condemned by the UN. Yet it continues, and this morning I am frustrated listening to an Israeli MP justify the onslaught and killing of innocents as the fault of Hezbollah using human shields. This kind of argument is so poor, it beggars belief. They say, we have given the lebanese warnings to leave their homes. I say, but where do they go, how do they leave, how will they live once displaced? The bombs of Israel do not discriminate between man and women, adult and child, christian and muslim. Hezbollah's return strikes are likewise indiscriminate between arab and jew. The resolution of the situation is simple, as we wrote on our flag in Raineh - No more violence. Both sides could stop tomorrow, but there are agendas that seems to weigh more heavily then the price of human life. It is a sad situation. A word of wisdom from the muslim chaplain at cambridge uni on radio 4 this morning suggested that in it's true form religions would live harmoniously seeking truth and justice, at such a time politicians would draw up boundary lines, and the religious would seek to transcend them.

The hum drum

Cartoon by Dave Walker.

I get back from mission and the week feels a bit like this cartoon, nothing really happens. The normality of work, eat and sleep is in stark contrast to the last weeks of engagement and everyday new experiences. It's difficult to process and get back into the swing of 'normality', though it does highlight the fact that I would really rather do something else than this work-a-day lifestyle.

Anyway, this morning I was reminded of my travels as my friend, Joy Adams, was on this morning's 'Pause for thought' on radio 2. I've known Joy for a few years now, after meeting on a methodist placement trip to India. She was also on a highway projects team, working at a children's camp in Nazareth. Today she shared her thoughts about being caught in a war zone and the sadness felt at having to leave. It is possible to listen to it again for the next week here. It is about 20 minutes into the programme, so that you can skip a bit, cos if you are like me, you will find Sarah Kennedy extremely annoying.

Highway Projects trip

So how do I articulate my experiences of the last fortnight or so? Wandering in the wilderness outside jericho, floating in the dead sea, working in Raineh, meeting new friends, eating falaffal, hearing bombs land, seeing places christ walked, being evacuated, seeing jerusalem, helping on another project, experiencing a little of the struggle faced by arab israelis, learning some arabic, being quiet.

It's impossible to place all my thoughts on the matter into a concise blog, so i won't. My journal is pages long, and I shan't be replicating it here, I shall probably write a little about some of the projects later. In the meantime, I suggest if you want to hear more about the experience I'd be more than willing to come and talk at a function/event/service etc. My photos are now uploaded onto a flickr set and will be anotated over the coming days.

I also can't recommend the work of highway projects enough, so if you are interested in doing some mission work next year, give this a thought.

tag highway projects

Nazareth

So yesterday, after just emailing one of our helpers up in Nazareth, I hear the news that the town has been struck twice, killing a couple of brothers. It's really sad news and makes me wish I was still there all the more, I just want to be able to hug my friends. I'm sure the camp will be cancelled again, it is such a shame. This situation causes so much pain. I hear that one of the strikes could be seen from the house I was staying at. It's also more and more difficult to hear news of strikes in Israel, as the news has become bored of that and is now focussing on the evacuation of foreign nationals from lebanon.

We have found some work to do nearby, helping at tent of nations which has a really great philosophy, run by a wonderful christian arab on whose land the camp is set. It just feels a bit odd cos we are only there a couple of days, and I don't really feel the contection that I did up in Raineh.

Back at the weekend Insh'Allah

we've moved

We've had to move south to jerusalem due to the very close proximity of some missiles last night. Although we all felt safe in Nazereth with our friends, it is only the sensible option to move out of range. It was vey sad and emotional to leave our friends, especially as i think we were getting on really well with the kids. Hopefully we can find some work to do whilst here, providing the situation does not escalate further.

will blog more on my return no doubt

the situation

Hi

This is just a quick post. The project is going well, and I am getting to know the kids and also a little arabic. It has been fun and tiring work, but I get a real sense that they are pleased to have english people amongst them and helping with their summer camp.

We have also had chance to do a few touristy things, and this weekend the groups in nazereth met to have a time of relaxation before our second week. Yesterday we went for a tour around the sites around the sea of galilee. It was really quite an odd feeling to be reflecting in these places that Jesus was (or at least very close to) and hearing the distant thunderous noises of bombs in the background.

In nazereth we are currently our of range, but the repercussions are felt here, as we know people whose relatives live there, and even people who work in the areas being hit. Of course they are worried that the violence will escalate, and we continue to pray for peace. Hopefully we will be able to finish our work here, but things are in place should the advice change and we have to move to a safer location. I would find this a very difficult situation, though of course the sensible option, as we will have to leave friends here.

Getting ready

So it's not long now before I leave for israel to join a highway project. I shall be based mainly in a town called raineh, which is very close to nazareth, where I'll be taking part in helping to run a summer school for palestinian muslim and christian teenagers. I'm really looking forward to it, but there's all that stress of getting everything ready, buying all kinds of bits and pieces for games, clothes to keep me cool. Today I bought a hat, but it makes me look like an extra from 'it ain't half hot mum'. I also bought a pair of sandals the other day, these were offically endorsed by the english FA, and I'm sure that gerrard, beckham and the rest of the england team are wearing identical ones around the hotel. I'm sure their wages could cover the £10 cost for the pair. In fact, these sandals may be the source of the fairly non-descript form that england are showing. You see, i wore mine today, and they really rub on your heel, so perhaps the england team are suffering from sore heels or similarsandal induced ailment.
There are of course slight concerns to the current situation in israel at the moment. Although we won't be anywhere near the gaza strip, the reporcutions will be felt countrywide. I hope to drop a few lines about the trip on my return.

Mission training day

As regular readers may remember I am travelling to Israel/Palestine with highway projects to help with their mission initiatives amongst palastinian arabs. On Saturday I had a days training, and I found the whole day really exciting. Not only the anticiaption about going, but also the slight fear about going to a completely different culture. Learning about some of the cultural dos and don'ts that will be essential for me as I stay with some palestinian hosts. The work sounds like it will be fairly exhausting and also fairly 'off the cuff' as no full itinery is yet available for our work with young people in Reineh. This is a town adjacent to Nazereth and Cana, so no doubt Christ would've travelled through it on the way to a certain wedding feast. We will mainly be working alongside a number of agencies promoting reconciliation between palaestian arabs of differing faiths, listening to their stories and helping run fun activities to keep them amused. On our days off we also get chance to visit Jericho in the west bank, on the edge of the dead sea, travel on the sea of galilee and to the mount of the beatitudes amongst other things. I'm sure it will be a truely rewarding experience. During the worship at the training event I got a real sense of God in the place, an almost physical presence as we sang. So I trust that God too, is excited about these continued projects, and not just the impact it will have on those we meet, but also the impact they will have on us, particularly as we engage in conversations about faith. There are still places available on some of the september projects to Jordon, but if you can't make that I recommend you check out the highway projects website and perhaps apply for one of the missions next year.

It was also a really sunny day, and me and chris purchased a tent for our germany trip. In the eve I went to see x-men III with v, though we were disappointed with the disjointed storyline. Such a shame as the other two films are really enjoyable, and you can read so much allogories into the way that the mutants are treated in these films. They could be any oppressed member of society that society wants to 'cure' be that gays or asylum seekers.